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The Broken UN Needs a Strong U.S. Presence to Facilitate the Reforms it Badly Needs, Says Ros-Lehtinen

The UN needs someone who can work to bring true reforms to that mismanaged institution, and I hope Samantha Power has the desire and the ability to recognize what corrective actions need to be taken

Jun 7, 2013

(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, made the following statement on President Obama’s selection of Samantha Power to be the next Ambassador to the United Nations. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

“The United Nations is an institution in need of serious reform. While at the UN, Ambassador Rice was unable to institute positive changes to fix this broken system. She brought a more laissez-faire approach to a problem that needs someone willing to roll up her sleeves and make reform a priority.

“The UN needs someone who can work to bring true reforms to that mismanaged institution, and I hope Samantha Power has the desire and the ability to recognize what corrective actions need to be taken, and will push back and fight harder against the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-United States agenda in that body.”

NOTE: Ros-Lehtinen was the author of H.R. 2829, the United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act of 2011, which requires the United Nations to switch its funding mechanism from an assessed basis to a voluntary basis. This legislation had over 140 cosponsors, and was marked up and reported favorably by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last Congress. This shift will empower the U.S. and other member-states to use their strongest leverage at the UN – their monetary contributions – to press for badly needed reform.